Disney's live action remake of 'Beauty and the Beast' is, at this point, pretty much guaranteed to be a solid release of the year with a stellar cast and a visually stunning set. But for Josh Gad, there's a level of excitement that the original brought that gives the new version a lot to live up to.

Beauty and the BeastJosh Gad stars alongside Luke Evans in 'Beauty and the Beast'

Movie theatres are generally silent places, save for the occasional rustle of popcorn, a laugh if it's a comedy, and a scream if it's a horror. But when Josh Gad, who plays Gaston's sidekick Le Fou, went to see the animated 'Beauty and the Beast' for the first time at a South Florida cinema in 1991, he experienced a reaction that has stayed with him to this day.

'The memory that I have, other than the fact that I was watching something completely magical, was 'Be Our Guest' ended and the audience erupted into applause', he recalled. 'And that was, at that time, a very unfamiliar response to going to see a movie. You were much more likely to see that in live theatre. to elicit that kind of response from an audience I thought was pretty amazing and something I definitely remember vividly.'

Watch the trailer for 'Beauty and the Beast' here:


 

Of course, the disadvantage that the new 'Beauty and the Beast' has with that point is that audiences will have already heard 'Be Our Guest' perhaps a hundred times. However, there's still plenty of chance of an ovation as a series of brand new songs - such as 'How Does a Moment Last Forever' and 'Evermore' - will be unveiled along with the original soundtrack. 

Josh Gad is currently filming Kenneth Branagh's take on the Agatha Christie novel 'Murder on the Orient Express' alongside Daisy Ridley and Johnny Depp, as well as the new 'Frozen' animated short 'Olaf's Frozen Adventure'. He has just completed work on Thurgood Marshall biopic 'Marshall' which stars his 'Beauty and the Beast' co-star Dan Stevens.

'Beauty and the Beast' is due to arrive in theatres on March 17th 2017.